Surviving the Unsurvivable
by Ealdor
Summary: Mel is one of the more valued members of the group. She's awkward and a little shy but when a new guy turns up, will he be able to pull her out of her shell? Or will she be torn from him as she has everyone else? Surviving the unsurvivable conditions is hard but so far they've managed. Rated T for some language and gore.
1. Summary

Summary

This fanfiction is about a group living in the conditions of The Walking Dead. In the distant future they will eventually meet up with Rick and his group but for now it'll just be about them. Mel is one of the more valued members of the group. She's awkward and a little shy but when a new guy turns up, will he be able to pull her out of her shell? Or will she be torn from him as she has been everybody else?

Character List

Melanie 'Mel' Taylor- The main character. She's the person this story is mainly about. Before the walkers took over, she lived in England. A week before it started, she visited the USA to stay with a friend for the holidays. Then she got caught up in this mess. Her dad was a pilot in the Royal Air Force and he taught her multiple skills such as driving an airplane and shooting a gun. The latter of these comes in very handy in their situation. She's also the unofficial chef of the group and often cooks them meals in the evenings.

John Talon- The newbie of the group. He used to be a college student- studying English Literature. When the apocalypse started, he was in a lecture. It was attacked and everyone fled, many being pulled down by the zombies as they went. He met up with another group of survivors a few months later. They were violent and after killing a living person, John decided he wanted to leave. He was shot in the leg as he ran. He met up with the group only a few hours ago and he's not sure if he wants to stay.

Nuka- John's dog. He found the man after he'd been shot and hasn't left his side since. The name Nuka comes from an African word for 'Stink' which he did when he first met John. John managed to brush out his matted fur and bathed him so that he doesn't smell as bad anymore.

Mary Samson- The leader of the group. She lost her husband and baby at the beginning of the apocalypse. She's the one that had the idea for the bus.

Harry Opal- The oldest member of the group. He has an eye for 'bad'ns' and is often the go-to guy for advice. His two grandchildren, Theodore and Olivia, live with the group too.

Peter 'Pete' Harrington- The tough guy. Pete was a policeman before the apocalypse and his skills really do come in handy. He keeps order in the group and makes sure any argument, fight or mystery doesn't go unsolved.

Marshel Richmond- The brains. Marshel came from a rich family. He's a spoiled, snob guy but he's also the smartest out of them. He's good at coming up with solutions to problems.

_- More to be added -_

The Vehicles

The Bus- This double-decker bus has a reinforced outside with metal bars over the windows to stop walkers being able to break the glass and get inside. The upstairs seats have been turned into beds for people to sleep on and the bottom is a multi-use room. They have a propane-fueled camping stove placed upon a set of cupboards that have been nailed to the floor. There's a large generator at the back to be used for electricity when it is needed and an area dedicated to personal storage. This area is filled with boxes and suitcases and really any sort of container possible. There's also a lot of medical supplies and a few weapons stored here. The top of the bus has a metal bar nailed onto it with ladders leading up for a good lookout spot.

The Truck- The truck is mainly used for storing weapons and ammo. There's also a motorbike placed in the back. The truck belongs to Mary and she usually sleeps there instead of the bus.

The Motorbike- This motorbike is used for scouting missions or small scale raids.

The Cars- Overall, there are two cars. There's a silver Audi AG and a blue Ford Focus. These are just used for transport or larger scale raids.


	2. Chapter 1

Surviving the Unsurvivable

Chapter 1- Introductions

John was a tall guy. His head towered at least a foot above mine. His hair was a dirty-blonde colour and hung into his kind, baby-blue eyes. He was scruffy, but even under all of that dirt I could see that he was a nice looking man. In a way, I would call him a gentle giant.

We'd picked him up somewhere outside of Minnesota. He was travelling alone, just him and his dog. Mary, the sort-of unofficial leader of ours, was wary of this new man but she eventually let him join us for a meal that night.

The man walked with a slight limp because of a wound he gained after running into a group of other survivors. It was fair to say he was about as nervous about us as we were of him.

"You're gonna love Mel's pasta sauce," Harry told him and I felt my cheeks turn pink.

"It's not that good," I insisted as I looked down at the boiling pot of red sauce. Taking out another tin of tomatoes from the cupboard, I used a knife to cut it open.

John smiled at me and my eyes moved to his for only a second before turning back to the pot as I tipped the tomatoes into the steaming liquid. "I'm sure it's great," he said softly. "I've been eating nothing but granola bars for the past two months."

I nodded. "Well, I suppose this will be a bit better," I replied with a small smirk.

"I'll go tell the others that you're almost done," Harry said as he stepped out of the bus and headed towards the others who were sitting around outside.

I was surprised that the old man had left me alone with this new guy but I trusted Harry. He was a good judge of character so I knew he wouldn't have gone if he noticed something off about John.

He leaned against the wall of the bus, looking at me. "So do you cook for your group every night?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Most nights," she replied. "Terri used to do it but she got attacked by some chompers two weeks ago when she was helping out with a raid."

"Oh..." John murmured. "I'm sorry..."

Shaking my head softly, I looked up at him. "Don't worry about it. People die all of the time. There's not much we can do about it."

I felt something touch my ankle and looked down with a small laugh. "This must be your dog," I said as I bent down to scratch behind the doors of the border collie. It was blue merle, its tongue hanging out the side of its mouth. It was about as dirty as its owner. I looked up at John. "What's his name?"

"Nuka," John replied, smiling at me.

Looking back at the dog, I ruffled his soft fur around his face. "Hi, Nuka," I cooed. "I bet you're hungry, hmm?" Reaching into the cupboard, I pulled out a tin of ham.

"You don't have to give him that," John said. "It's your food. I can find him something later."

"Don't be silly," I replied as I grabbed a bowl from the sink, emptying the tin into it. "If you're having a proper meal, so should he." I placed the bowl in front of the canine and he immediately began chomping it down. "Just don't tell Mary. She might get fussed."

"Thanks."

I smiled at him and stood, pulling out a pile of bowls and plates. Then I scooped on some of the pasta and sauce before handing it to him. "Why don't you go sit with the others?" I suggested. "Who knows, perhaps you'll earn yourself a place here?"

"Oh..." said John, looking a little embarrassed. "I don't think Nuka and I will be staying long. I'm not really too good with other people."

My smile dropped a little then nodded silently. "Well, would you mind at least telling the others to come and get it?"

"Yeah," John murmured before stepping down the few steps and off the bus.


	3. Chapter 2

AN: Wow, I never expected so much response in a couple of hours! Thanks, guys!

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Chapter 2- The Hoard

"Hey! Come on, boy!" I called. "Bring it back!"

The border collie seemed more interested in gnawing on the ball rather than chasing it. I could hear John chuckling under his breath beside me.

"What?" I demanded as I turned to look at him.

He shook his head. "He doesn't respond if you shout," he told me. "Whistle instead."

I made a small 'o' shape with my mouth and blew out a puff of air but no sound came out except for the sound of air passing my lips. After licking over them, I tried again- still no sound. By this point John's laughing had grown louder.

"Like this," he said as he put his thumb and pointer finger to the sides of his mouth and blew out a shrill screech. Immediately, Nuka's ears perked up and he headed over with the ball firmly between his jaws.

I rolled my eyes. "Show off," I muttered under my breath.

John shrugged, smirking. "What can I say?" he asked. "I have skills." Crouching down, he retrieved the ball from Nuka who put up a good fight to keep it.

Then he threw it again, hard. It just seemed to keep going. Then I let out a small gasp. "Call him back," I hissed. "Now!"

John gave me a questioning look. "Why?"

I pointed at the shadow moving slowly through the forest near to where the ball had landed, the sunset highlighting it. "Chomper," I answered.

John immediately put his fingers to his lips and whistled again. Nuka stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him, obviously wanting to go on and get the ball.

The man whistled again and the canine came running. When I was sure he was coming back, I turned and jogged back to the vehicles where the others were. "Chomper!" I called loudly.

Pete, who was up on the roof with a sniper rifle, was the one to reply. "Where?"

I pointed in the direction I had seen it and he looked through his scope. "Shit," he cursed. "Tell everyone to get in the bus. It's a hoard."

I bit my lip and nodded, looking at John- who had caught up with Nuka at his side. "What's a hoard?" he asked.

"He means there's a pack of them, a large group," I replied. "Time to go hunting. Know how to use a gun, newbie?"

He shrugged. "I'm sure I can figure it out."

I headed towards the group. "Guys, there's a hoard." Those four words spurred everyone into action. Olivia and Theodore ran for the bus, Harry hobbling along behind them.

Mary's smile dropped and she immediately began bellowing orders left, right and center. "Come on, chop chop," she added.

I took John's hand and pulled him towards the bus, Nuka at his heels.

"I thought we were going to go kill some of them?" John asked, sounding surprised.

"We are," I said as I climbed into the bus and headed to the back. "But we'll do it from the safety of upstairs- to keep the chompers away from the bus. It's reinforced but with a hoard there's no telling whether they'll get in. We're protecting all of the others, the ones who don't fight."

I passed him a rifle and he nodded. "Okay," he replied. "Sounds like a plan."

I looked around for Nuka and noticed him sitting next to Olivia, his head in the frightened girl's lap. Her hand rested on his back.

"I'll just leave him there," said John as he followed me up the stairs.

I headed over to a boarded up window and pulled off the large tile of wood. "This is where we shoot from." I indicated the large gaping hole. They can't exactly climb up the side of the bus so it should be fine in that respect."

Moving over to the window, my eyes wandered over the now clear hoard on the horizon. It was getting darker, and they were getting closer.

Most of the group were on the ground on foot. Some carried axes, others guns, one even held a bow. This spot was key for winning the fight against the hoard. I could take them out at long range with my sniper rifle, especially since I had pretty good aim compared to the others.

Looking through the scope, I tightened my finger on the trigger before letting loose a shot- hitting one of the ones in the lead directly in the forehead.

I could feel John's shocked eyes on me but I didn't look at him, concentrating on the task at hand. Bang! Another down. Bang! Another. My shots rang out through the air, drawing them in closer which was exactly what we needed.

Then the others let loose with gunfire, others running at the zombies with their various weapons. I continued to fire until I realized John hadn't used up a single shot. I pulled back from the scope to look at him, seeing that he was looking frustrated with the weapon.

"It won't work," he growled. "The trigger won't move."

I took it from him and cocked it, removing what had jammed it before handing it back. "Here, try now."

He aimed the gun at one of the zombies before pulling the trigger, managing to hit one of the chompers in the shoulder.

"Good shot," I complimented. "But aim for the head for an instant kill."

"I did aim for the head..." John grumbled as he took aim again.

I went back to spying through my scope and sniping off zombies individually. Then I heard a scream and looked down to see Nuka running out of the bus and Olivia being pulled in by Harry. A shape moved to the doors before they had a chance to close them.

"Crap!" I growled as I exchanged my sniper rifle for my pistol and hurried down the stairs, leaving John to continue. By the sound of raspy breathing and screams told me that a chomper had definitely made it on board.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I assessed the scene. Harry, his grandchildren and the other elderly and young were backed up against the generator. The chomper walking towards them slowly. The stairs were directly beside it and I had an easy shot to hit it. Brains splattered the window and blood doused my shirt.

"Was anybody bitten?" I demanded as I looked over their faces. They all were staring behind me and, as I turned to look, I felt teeth dig into my neck- tearing the flesh. Quick as I could, I placed my gun against the forehead of the chomper and pulled the trigger. It fell to the floor of the bus and my eyesight went blurry, blood soaking my shirt quickly. Then I collapsed...


	4. Chapter 3

_A/N: Do you guys think I should have them meet up with the group sooner or later? My original plan was later but I'm not so sure. Leave a review with your answer please._

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Chapter 3- Chomped by a Chomper

My memory at this point came in fractions as I gained and lost consciousness continuously. I wasn't sure what was reality and what was dreams. My entire shoulder ached and, really it was very hard to describe the pain I felt. I felt like I was dying. Heck, I knew I was dying. Nobody ever survived a chomper bite. We'd learned that fact only a few weeks into the apocalypse.

I remember someone picking me up, there was yelling, and I felt the chill of the night air against the wound in my neck. I was placed down in an uncomfortable position on some rather bumpy ground.

There were fingers against my wound, burning fingers. Then a cold cloth suddenly replaced it and I heard a gasp, my own gasp as it left my lips.

"Shh," someone murmured as they pressed the cloth back to the wound again and this time I whimpered softly, unable to keep my pain quiet. Something snuffled against my face. A wet nose; a furry wet nose. Then a rough tongue dragging across my cheek. Nuka.

My consciousness slipped again and I fell into the blackness.

-00-

The next time I woke, it was daylight. I was under a canopy of trees, my back resting against the roots of a tree- that was what had been making the ground so bumpy. The achiness had by now spread to the rest of my body. I lifted my head only slightly before hearing a click. Turning my eyes to the side, I noticed a pistol pointed directly at my head.

"Say something!" John hissed and I was confused, wondering why he wanted me to speak. The gun pointed at my head was what confused me even more. He held Nuka back by his collar.

"John?" I asked in a shaky voice. "What- what are you doing?"

The man lowered the gun with a relieved sigh. "I just had to know if you were one of them. A... chomper? Is that what you guys call them?" He released the canine who was almost strangling himself in an attempt to get to be. As soon as he was released he bounced over to me and nuzzled my hand, wanting to be pet. I obliged and ran my hand over the blueish grey fur behind his ears.

"Why would I be a chomper?" I asked, my head fuzzy as to the previous events. My brows furrowed and I moved my hand from Nuka's head to my neck, feeling the bandage there. "How long was I out?" I asked John.

"Three days," John replied. "I took you out of camp because Mary was going to shoot you without even waiting to see what happened."

"I was bitten." My voice was low, hollow. "It's protocol. I should have turned by now..."

The man looked a little lost for words, as was I. There was an awkward silence between us as I tried to come up with some sort of explanation as to why I hadn't become one of the undead. I couldn't figure any out other than...

"Do you think it's possible to fight the infection?" I asked him suddenly.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I've never seen it before," he replied. "Usually people turn within a few hours."

"Do I look any different? My eyes...?" Usually the chompers had weird looking eyes, paler than normal with browny-coloured whites.

John shook his head.

"I don't understand..." I murmured, my voice growing a little croaky. "Maybe I'm just taking longer to change?"

The man held out a bottle of water. "Or maybe you're just lucky?" he suggested.

Taking the bottle, I nodded in thanks and downed about half of it in one go. "Why did you protect me?" I asked.

"Because you didn't deserve to die like that," John replied. "I hoped that perhaps God would grant someone like you some sort of miracle and it looks like he has."

I'd never really thought anyone could remain religious in the current circumstances but it seemed that John had held onto his faith. Funny, I would never have guessed him a christian.

"Thank you," I told him honestly.

John stood, offering a hand to help me to my feet. I accepted and my legs immediately gave way under me, causing me to fall into him. He caught me and slipped an arm around my waist to help. "No food in three days," he reminded me. "You're probably going to be weak for at least two."

I didn't like that thought too much but who was I to complain? I'd just survived the unsurvivable.

-00-

When we got back to the camp, there was an uproar (to say the very least). Mary was immediately on her feet, her rifle pointed at John's chest as he pushed me behind him.

"Why would you bring one of those things back to camp with you?" said someone.

Another piped up with "It isn't going to be Mel anymore so kill it, Mary!"

There were a lot of other insults mixed in though I didn't catch every one. Couldn't they see that I hadn't changed?

Mary looked John right in the eye. "She got bitten, she _will _change, do you understand? Even if she-"

"Honestly, Mary." said Harry as he walked over. "It's been _days. _If she was going to change then she'd have done so ages ago. Something changed. She isn't one of them."

I peeked around John's shoulder at the old man. He gave me a smile.

"How're you feeling, kid?" he asked but I didn't get a chance to reply as Mary started talking again.

"Fine, but for the next week she'll be kept separate from the rest of the group." She directed this at John. "And _you_ will be the one to shoot her if she turns or I'll shoot you both. After that week, if she still hasn't changed, then we'll decide on what to do. You can keep her over there." She pointed towards the side of the road, next to an old Volvo car, then she turned to leave.

"She needs food," John piped up suddenly.

Mary stopped and looked at him. "Go hunt her something then, boy," she said. "I ain't wasting any of what we have on her."

I could feel the tension building in John but he kept his silence, as did Harry. The Mary turned back and walked to the rest of the group.


End file.
